Inpatient Rehabilitation Services

Tulane Inpatient Rehabilitation Center (TIRC) has 17 private rooms for comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation located at Tulane Lakeside Hospital for Women and Children in Metairie, LA. The specialized rehabilitation team at TIRC helps patients reach their goals and return to home, work or school as soon as possible. Each patient's care is customized to fit their needs and care plans are developed with the input of the patient, family, physician and rehabilitation team.

Tulane Medical Center physicians representing a variety of medical specialties are available for consultation as needed. The medical director is responsible for the overall management of the patient’s recovery and serves as an important resource to the patient and family. Coordinated care among our team of professionals with patient and family helps maximize a patient’s potential in reaching their goals and thereby facilitates the patient's return to home, work or school.

Services & Treatments

Physical Therapy

Occupational Therapy

Speech Language Pathology

Nutrition

Patient Referrals

Transitional Living

Referral Information

Tulane’s Inpatient Rehabilitation Center is designed to assist anyone who is functionally limited due to injury or disease. TIRC’s rehabilitation liaison will determine if a patient would benefit from an inpatient rehabilitation stay. Typically, this program most benefits persons who have sustained a stroke, spinal cord injury, amputation, multiple trauma, arthritis, orthopedic injury, neuromuscular disease, or are deconditioned due to a lengthy hospital stay.

Additional Clinical Resources

Vital Stim®

TIRC’s speech language pathologists are certified in the new cutting edge Vital Stim® technology. This neuromuscular electrical stimulation therapy approved by the FDA is used for patients with swallowing disorders, otherwise known as oral-motor dysphagia. Vital Stim® is the first proven treatment for dysphagia.

Lite Gait

TIRC’s physical therapists have seen amazing results using this innovative technology. The LiteGait is a partial weight bearing gait training technique that enables the physical therapist to facilitate normal gait patterns for patients with even severe gait deficits by providing a safely supported environment for the patient.

Transitional Living Room

TIRC offers a transitional living room that allows patients to practice the skills they need for greater independence in activities of daily living. In some cases, an overnight stay in the transitional living room with a spouse or other caregiver is a helpful step in preparing for the return home.

Wii

The Nintendo Wii is rapidly becoming an important adjunct to patient care in rehabilitation facilities. The Nintendo Wii has game packages that simulate not only the game activity, but a broad variety of functional movements and tasks a person will use in the course of a day.

Community Re-entry

TIRC offers a wide variety of community re-entry therapy that advocates the patient’s return to their prior independent living situation. Therapists tailor these visits to the specific needs of the patients.

Home Safety Evaluations (as needed)

Home Evaluations are offered when the rehabilitation team feels that this is necessary for a safe return home. TIRC’s occupational and physical therapists will work with the patient and their family on recommendations for equipment for home.

Rehabilitation Physician:

Our medical director, Dr. Raoul Rodriguez, is the primary physician for TIRC. He is responsible for the overall management of the patient’s recovery and serves as an important resource to the patient and family. The goal of rehabilitation is to optimize function through the combined use of medications, physical modalities, physical training with therapeutic exercise, movement and activities modification, and experiential training approaches. Dr. Rodriguez has been the medical director of TIRC since 2014 and offers extensive experience to lead the interdisciplinary rehabilitation team in helping the patient return to his most optimal functional recovery.

Rehabilitation Nurse:

TIRC’s Rehabilitation nurses are an essential part of the rehabilitation team to help patients achieve their greatest potential and work toward productive, independent lives. Our rehabilitation nurses work with patients and their families from day one to help them manage complex medical issues and thereby maximize their independence. During the patient’s continued stay, the rehabilitation nurses educate the patient and families in order to ensure a more independent discharge to home. The nurses work hand-in-hand with the staff physicians and therapists, promoting the progress made in therapy in an effort to help patients gain independence.

Case Manager/Social Worker:

The case manager/social worker at TIRC works with the patient and their family to coordinate and plan for an easy transition to home. They assist patients with finding community resources, understanding the complexities of insurance, and coordinating for appropriate equipment for home. The social worker also is available to provide supportive counseling when needed.

Physical Therapist:

The physical therapy team at TIRC is skilled with helping patients with their ability to move. Our physical therapists provide therapy through different types of treatments with the goal of promoting functional independence for the patient and thereby decreasing the burden of care on families and caregivers. Since every patient is unique, each physical therapy program is tailored to meet the individual needs of the patient.TIRC currently has the latest gait technology called LiteGait. The LiteGait is a partial weight bearing gait training technique that enables the physical therapist to facilitate normal gait patterns for patients with even severe gait deficits by providing a safely supported environment for the patient. TIRC’s physical therapists have seen amazing results using this innovative technology. For more information, visit litegait.com.

Occupational Therapist:

The occupational therapy team at TIRC helps patients to regain independence in their activities of daily living. Our occupational therapists focus on daily skills such as dressing, grooming, eating, and bathing. They offer a wide variety of adaptive equipment to assist patients with achieving their greatest level of independence. TIRC’s occupational therapists are trained in treatment of the neurologically impaired upper extremity and can offer a wide variety of custom treatment plans that address the individual’s barriers to optimal function.

Speech Language Pathologist:

TIRC’s speech language pathologists are skilled in providing comprehensive, state-of-the-art diagnostic evaluation and treatment services for patients on the rehab unit with communication and/or swallowing disorders. Our speech pathologists treat the adult rehabilitation population who have sustained traumatic brain injuries, strokes, aneurysms, spinal cord injuries, neuromuscular diseases, tumor resections, laryngeal pathologies and tracheostomies. The speech therapist is part of the inpatient rehabilitation team and provides education and training for patients and their families so that patients may achieve their fullest potential.

TIRC’s speech language pathologists are certified in the new cutting edge Vital Stim® technology. This neuromuscular electrical stimulation therapy approved by the FDA is used for patients with swallowing disorders, otherwise known as oral-motor dysphagia. Vital Stim® is the first proven treatment for dysphagia.

Registered Dietician:

TIRC’s registered dieticians are experts in food and nutrition. They work with the rehabilitation team to develop nutritional plans to meet the patient’s individualized nutritional needs. These plans include nourishment, tube feedings, intravenous feeding such as total parenteral nutrition (TPN) or peripheral parenteral nutrition (PPN), diets, and education. They also supervise the preparation and service of food, develop modified diets, participate in research, and educate individuals and groups on good nutritional habits.

Locations

Facility Star Rating Description

Each patient’s experience at our practice is important to us. As we strive to provide the highest level of care, we value feedback on all aspects of the patient experience. This Medical GPS patient experience survey measures patient satisfaction from the time the appointment was made to the time the patient spent with the provider.

Recommend: The Recommendation rating reflects patients’ overall likelihood of recommending their provider to friends or family members.

Exam Thorough: The Exam Thorough rating reflects how satisfied patients were at the thoroughness and completeness of their examination and treatment.

Provider Answers: The Provider Answers rating shows the level of patient satisfaction on how the provider was able to answer questions and fully explain treatment.

Provider Concern: Provider concern measures the extent to which patients agree they were treated with courtesy, respect and concern throughout the entire examination.

Wait Reasonable: This rating measures patient satisfaction on the total time spent waiting for the provider.